I heart Paper Piecing!

I've been doing a lot of Paper Piecing lately and I'm currently working on these darling Hummingbird blocks.  I have to tell you I really enjoy it and I love how your blocks line up perfectly when you paper piece. 
 

 

 

I'm using Gardenvale by Jen Kingwell for Moda, with a few scraps from my stash thrown in for variety

 

I used the Hummingbird Quilt Block Pattern & Tutorial by Red Pepper Quilts.  You can purchase and download the foundation pattern from her Etsy shop for just a few dollars.  She also has an amazing tutorial for this block on her blog with a lot of pictures and it's very easy to follow with step-by-step instructions.  I did however cut my fabrics about 1/2 inch larger than suggested in the the tutorial which gave me a little more wiggle room.  


You may have seen this block or a variation of it called the Periwinkle block.  This is called the bordered periwinkle quilt block by Missouri Star Quilt Co.  Click the link for a great tutorial by the amazing Jenny Doan.

For the bordered periwinkle block I used the triangle foundation papers from the Missouri Star Quilt Co. and they work just fine for this particular block.  I made scrappy blocks with no contrasting background fabric, and I used Robert Kaufman's Black Essex Linen for the "border" which is available to purchase on our website.  What I did not like about this method was pressing the seams...I was so confused how to do it, and when I layed out my blocks, I had to go back and re-press a lot of my seams because they all go the same direction.  The triangle paper is light weight and is really easy to remove, but I was a little unhappy with the final result because all of the bulk in the seams.  

What I liked best about the Red Pepper Quilts method is that when you piece from the right side to the left like the picture below (A1, A2, A3 ) all your seams nestle together when you sew your block together. So, when you make your bordered periwinkle blocks, press ALL your seams from right to left and you will have better luck than I did sewing your blocks together. 

I'm thinking this mini quilt needs a border or two and I would like a few suggestions on how to machine quilt it also.  Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below...



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Until next time...
Happy Quilting!
 ~Joni